EBR police and fire briefs for Aug. 16, 2014

EBR police and fire briefs for Aug. 16, 2014

Baker man booked in attempt to kill officer

A 21-year-old Baker man who was freed from jail on a $100,000 bond on two attempted second-degree murder charges from a 2013 drive-by shooting was arrested again on Thursday — after police say he almost ran over a police officer with his car.

On Tuesday, Chavis Duncan was meeting with a probation officer at Zachary City Court on a misdemeanor conviction when police detained him at the Zachary Police Department to test his DNA for evidence in a residential burglary, according to the arrest warrant.

Duncan was sitting on a bench for a few minutes when he stood up, ran out the back and jumped into his car in the parking lot.

When an officer got in front of him and told him to stop, Duncan gunned his car toward him, and the officer dove out of the way as Duncan took off down La. 64, running other cars off the road, the warrant says.

Police soon lost track of Duncan, who lives at 412 Douceur Drive. Days later, he was booked into Parish Prison on counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, obstruction of justice and aggravated flight from an officer.

BR man accused of kidnapping girlfriend

A Baton Rouge man is accused of punching his girlfriend until she lost consciousness, then forcing her at knifepoint to drive him to his house — in a rampage said to have begun with him destroying her apartment.

Roosevelt Bell, 27, was intoxicated when he got into a fight with his girlfriend at her apartment on Mohican-Presscott Crossover, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Bell flipped over her couch and started smashing TVs, and when his girlfriend tried to stop him, he punched her in the face until she lost consciousness, the affidavit says.

When she woke up, Bell had a knife to her throat and forced her to get in her car and drive him to his Saguara Avenue home, the affidavit says. When they reached the home and Bell got out of the car first, the woman sped away and called police. One of her eyes was swollen shut.

Couple accused of beating 5-year-old

A married couple accused of beating a 5-year-old girl with a belt, causing bruises to the girl’s buttocks and legs, were arrested Wednesday.

Family members took the girl to the hospital when they noticed the bruises on Sunday, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Edvardo Terrance Francois, 26, and Rachel Lesha Francois, 24, both of 4949 Stumberg Lane, were booked Wednesday into Parish Prison on one count each of cruelty to a juvenile.

BR man said to have sex with 13-year-old

A 25-year-old man is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in a vacant apartment in May and June.

Danny Allen first approached the girl when she was checking her mail, according to the affidavit of probable cause. He gave her his number and said, “Call me.” The girl used her mother’s phone to call Allen and meet for sex in the vacant apartment’s bathroom, the affidavit says.

Allen, 2201 Fairchild St., was booked Thursday into Parish Prison on two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

17-year-old booked on indecent behavior

A Baton Rouge teen was booked on indecent behavior with a juvenile involving a 14-year-old girl.

Police say the girl came to the home of Demond Matthews, 17, looking for a cellphone charger on July 6. He retrieved it, and as she sat waiting on a couch, he forced himself on her, trying to get his hands under her clothes.

The girl told police she had to fight to get away from Matthews by pulling his hair before running from the apartment, the affidavit says.

Gas for Guns program planned Aug. 23

The Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination Project plans to host a Gas for Guns buyback program the morning of Aug. 23 at the Living Faith Christian Center on Winbourne Avenue.

The program, which runs from 10 a.m. to noon, allows anyone in possession of a gun to turn in up to two weapons to authorities in exchange for gasoline gift cards ranging in worth from $50 to $300, according to a city-parish news release.

“Officers will accept the firearms without asking questions about the donors’ identities or how they came to be in possession of the guns,” the release says.

The Circle K Corp. partnered with BRAVE to host to buyback, which offers $50 gift cards for functional, nonreplica pistols or revolvers with a caliber lower than .380. Handguns with higher calibers are worth $100 gift cards, the release says.

The exchange of assault-style guns are worth a $300 gift card each “as long as they are a functional variant of an automatic or semi-automatic rifle that is currently in use by military forces with a caliber of 9 mm, 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm,” the release says.

Previous gun buybacks have resulted in the exchange of nearly 500 firearms since 2010, the release says.

Immediately prior to the buyback, located at the faith center at 6375 Winbourne Ave., BRAVE also will host a community cleanup. Participants should meet at the Fruit of the Spirit Church, 3338 Plank Road. Cleaning supplies and refreshments will be provided.

Drive sober program underway in BR

The Baton Rouge Police Department will participate in the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign aimed at reducing drunk driving.

Grants from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission fund the overtime pay for officers who will be conducting “saturations patrols, checkpoints and other enforcements aimed at drunk driving,” the department said in a new release.

The campaign began Friday and wraps up Aug. 31.

Authorities book 8 on suspicion of DWI

Authorities arrested at least eight people suspected of driving while intoxicated in East Baton Rouge Parish and booked them into Parish Prison between 2:30 p.m. Thursday and 2:30 p.m. Friday, booking records show.

Those booked and the counts against them:

John Foster, 46, 2031 N. 16th St., Baton Rouge, first-offense DWI, failure to signal, drinking in public and disobeying other laws of the road.